1. Field
A method for controlling an exhaust type clothes dryer are disclosed herein.
2. Background
In general, a clothes dryer is a device for drying laundry by blowing heated air generated by a heater into a drum to evaporate moisture contained in the laundry. Clothes dryers may be classified as an exhaust type clothes dryer or a condensing type clothes dryer depending on whether humid air has passed through the drum after drying laundry.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a related art exhaust type clothes dryer. Referring to FIG. 1, the exhaust type clothes dryer may include a drum 1 into which a target item may be introduced, an intake channel 2 that connects to a side of the drum 1 so that ambient air may be introduced into the drum, a heater 4 provided at or in the intake channel 2 to heat air introduced into the drum 1, an exhaust channel 3 that connects to another side of the drum 1 so that air that has passed through the drum 1 may be discharged outside of the clothes dryer, and a blower 5 provided so that ambient air may be introduced through the intake channel 2, thus providing power to the ambient air in the exhaust channel so that the ambient air may be introduced through the intake channel 2 and discharged through the exhaust channel 3.
As the drum 1 rotates, a target item, for example, an item of clothing, introduced into the drum 1 may move inside the drum 1. As the blower 5 operates, ambient air outside of a case of the exhaust type clothes dryer may be introduced into the intake channel 2 and heated by the heater 4. The heated air may be supplied to an interior of the drum for a predetermined period of time to dry the target item, and humid air evaporated from the target item may be discharged through the exhaust channel 3.
However, changes in a degree of dryness of the target item and a temperature and relative humidity of air discharged from the drum 1 may occur as drying is in progress. That is, at a latter point in the drying when drying of the laundry approaches completion, the temperature of the discharged air may be high and the relative humidity, or ratio of steam included in the air, of the discharged air may be low. Therefore, rather than being used to remove moisture from the target item, a ratio of heated air lost may increase and considerably reduce energy efficiency during drying.